A Secret Worth Keeping

Chapter 2

Josie's POV: I frowned to myself as Lizzie disconnected the comms before looking over my shoulder as Hope got to her feet. "Lizzie, what was that sound", she asked her. "Lizzie", she called, frowning to herself. "Lizzie, answer me dammit", she shouted, grabbing her gun off the coffee table and hurrying out the door. 

"What was that about", Penelope spoke up, causing me to jump, forgetting that she was there.

"I...don't know", I admitted with a confused frown. "I should probably go after them", I sighed, getting up from my chair.

"Jojo, wait a minute", she called after me, getting up to grab my wrist. 

"Let go of me, Penelope", I warned.

"You can't just throw yourself out there without knowing anything about the number", she reasoned. "I'm sure the terrible duo can handle themselves", she told me, causing me to narrow my eyes at the nickname. 

"Pen-"

"You're more help to them alive than dead, Jojo", she pointed out.

"Let go of me", I exclaimed, shoving her backwards as her grip tightened.

"Josie, it's me", Hope said, causing me to instinctively touch my ear. "Do you have any idea what Lizzie would want with the adopted kid", she asked as I yanked my wrist out of Penelope's grip angrily.

"I'm not sure", I admitted, tearing my gaze away from Penelope. Sitting back down at my computer, I opened the adoption file as my eyebrows slowly came together. "I'm not even sure if the child is even an orphan at all. The birth mother listed on the adoption form is Mrs. Jenna Williams of English origin", I read, looking over her file. "Though her records seems to be...", I trailed off as my eyes widen slightly. "Oh. This is interesting", I mumbled to myself, hacking into the government files.

"What", Hope asked with a grunt, causing me to glance up, realizing that I was supposed to be participating in a conversation.

"Hope? Are you alright", I questioned.

"Oh, I'm fine. This man with a nice Ducati isn't doing so well though", she answered, causing me to rather an eyebrow.

"Did you just steal a man's motorcycle", I asked, hearing someone moan and curse, before it was immediately drowned out by the roar of an engine starting.

"How else am I supposed to get to the Dark Wood Hotel before she does", Hope asked with what anyone else might consider amusement, but I had the sinking feeling it was bloodlust.

"Hope, this isn't a competition", I reminded, wincing at the sound of what I presumed was a close encounter with a vehicle.

"Of course it is", Hope scoffed. "When is it never a competition with her", she muttered over the line.

I still wasn't quite sure what to call Hope and Lizzie's relationship. I knew that one aggravated the other to no end, but they usually worked perfectly together. Lizzie and Hope were more of a destructive team than an effective one despite their uncanny ability to get themselves out of tricky situations, but they would eventually kill each other.

"I'll check back in when I get there", Hope promised, her voice caught up in a rush of air, before hanging up.

I rolled my eyes with a sigh before remembering Penelope was still in the room. I'm gonna need a glass of bourbon just to get through the day, especially if Hope and Lizzie are both determined to work the same mission.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Jojo", Penelope assured. "Lizzie may be insane, but she won't let her emotions get in the way of the mission", she said, causing my mood to sour.

Deciding to ignore her, I looked through the files again, trying to get as much information as I could to assist Hope when she decided to check back in.

Grabbing a cup of coffee, I lost track of time before Penelope left to meet up with Milton and the comms finally buzzed back to life, causing me to jump, the jolt nearly causing the now cold cup of coffee to tumble over the side of the table. I quickly grabbed the cup, sighing in relief, before finally getting up to pour out the coffee, trying to understand the grunts I hear coming through the line.

"Hope, is everything alright", I asked, washing the cup and laying it in the sink.

"I'm fine", Hope responded. "Just taking out the guy who was scouting out the hotel", she told me. "Shit. There's another one", she cursed.

I started to say something, but thought better of it and returned to the records that I had pulled up on the screen. I'm glad that I haven't heard a gunshot over our comms. It's really amazing to think about how far Hope has come from when we first met.

"Have you neutralized the threat", I questioned, realizing that the line had gone silent.

"Josie, these guys are mercenaries", she said. "Killers for hires", she added, causing me to frown to myself.  

"Really? I thought people in this kind of work usually worked alone", I questioned. "As far as I know, we're the only team in New Orleans. The only other group was the Crescent Pack and they were wiped out years ago", I frowned.

"I thought so too, but I have three out here that are all carrying the same picture. I don't think they're working together though, more like...they were all hired separately, but for the same hit", she explained.

"That is strange", I admitted. "You should go inside and check on the Lamberts", I suggested. "The hotel keeps digital records. Just give me a moment to access the network", I told her, hearing her angry breathing. I paused, thinking about asking her not to breathe so loudly while I was working, when there was a beep from my second computer screen indicating that my search was completed.

My fingers froze over the keys as my eyes widened in disbelief.

"Josie", Hope questioned, snapping me out of my thoughts as I glanced back at the other screen uneasily.

"Sorry. Mr. Lambert rented a room on the third floor. Room 325", I retorted.

"On it", she replied as I glanced at the second screen once more.

"Hope, that picture the mercenaries had...it wasn't of the little girl, was it" , I questioned.

"No. It was of a middle-aged guy in a flannel shirt. Why", she asked as I stared at the second screen quietly before the sounds of gunfire came through the comms.

"Hope", I frowned. "Hope, are you okay", I asked.